Stealing a crush
by VanessaMaria18
Summary: Ginny Weasley has a crush on none other than Head Boy, Draco Malfoy, but he doesn't even seem to notice her. Hermione is Head Girl and Ginny hatches a plan to get Hermione's help in winning his heart, what happens when Hermione starts talking to Draco properly, she can't possibly be having feelings for him… can she. DRAMIONE! rated M for language.
1. Helping Ginny

**Hi everyone, as you may know from some of my other stories I've been very poorly but I'm in remission now and have really LOVED writing this story so hope you like it. Please R&R your encouragement really does help! Thank you! xx **

Hermione flipped the pages in her book as she scanned the words for some kind of help for the impossible essay she was writing. Angrily she slammed the large cover shut and coughed waving a hand in front of her face as the dust rose into the air. She heaved the book back up onto the shelf it came from and skimmed her fingers across the spines of others as she looked for a different book.

"You seem stressed Granger" The voice of Draco Malfoy filled the silent air and Hermione didn't even bother to turn around to acknowledge his presence.

"What do you want Malfoy? I'm busy" She snapped heaving yet another impossibly heavy book of the selves.

"Can't a fellow Head of school great another Head of school without a reason?" He asked innocently as she dropped back into her seat at the desk.

"In our case absolutely not" She replied without looking up and opening the cover of her book. Draco chuckled and placed both his palms flat on the table leaning over so he was right in her face. Hermione recoiled and was forced to look up at him.

"The Hufflepuff's are causing trouble" He informed her and she ran a hand through her hair.

"Can't you handle the Hufflepuff's on your own? Get the Hufflepuff prefects to help you." She snapped irritated he'd sort her out in the library and disturbed her studies for such a mundane task.

"It's the Hufflepuff prefects who are the ones causing the trouble" He smirked and her eyes winded. Prefects? Merlin's beard.

"I'm going to kill each and everyone of them" She ground out slamming her books shut and getting to her feet. Draco smirked and led the way out the library towards the Hufflepuff common room, he muttered the password and they ducked into the yellow and black room.

In front of them were the Hufflepuff prefects, very very drunk sprawled out all over the room. Hermione growled under her breath and slammed her foot against the floor drawing their attention.

"Zaharias Smith! Hannah Abbott! Justin Finch-Fletchly! Susan Bones!" She shouted each louder and louder "What do you think you're doing?" she snapped as Draco lounged against the wall next to her with a raised eyebrow.

"D-drinking" Hannah hiccupped waving a bottle of fire whiskey in the air with a ridiculous goofy smile. Hermione's eyes hardened and she glared at the four drunk prefects.

"How dare you shurk your responsibilities like this! What are you thinking?" She nodded her head at Draco who pushed off from the wall and started to take the bottles of drink from each prefect. He had a particular struggle trying to get the bottle out of Susan's hands, but with a hard tug it slipped from her grasp and he carried the four almost empty bottles to the other side of the room.

"The world sucks" Zach piped up and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Why?" She asked indulging them for a moment.

"Zach started pelting on about how Cho doesn't like him and - hic - it made us all start thinking about our own - hic - depressing love lives" Justin piped up his voice slurred. Hermione let out a long sigh her own mind wondering to her non-existent love life and she groaned.

"All four of you are doing double the amount of duties and I'm taking 20 points from each of you, now get to bed NOW" She snapped and the four slunk off towards their respective dorms.

"Bit easy on them weren't you Granger?" Draco asked as the bottles clinked against each other in his hands. He'd seen her punishments before and this was nothing especially for the severity of the crime. She just shrugged and pushed past him on her way out of the common room and back to her own.

"Jesus Granger you are one miserable witch" He announced as he followed her out, she whirled on her heel and glared at him.

"Just because you're Head boy does not make me hate you any less" She ground out and Draco growled about to snap out a retort but she had already marched off down the corridor.

Hermione trudged back into the Gryffindor common room at 11 pm absolutely exhausted. As soon as she stepped through the portrait she was attacked by a red haired screaming girl.

"GINNY!" She screamed ducking out the way so the younger girl almost smacked straight into the wall behind her.

"I neeeeeeeeed to talk to you Mione" she hurried the words running together slightly as she said them so quickly. The brunette sighed resigning herself to a very late night tonight.

"What's up Gin?" She asked as she flopped down on the empty sofa, the whole common room was dead everyone having gone to bed long ago. Ginny nervously ran a hand through her hair, perching on the end of the sofa.

"I need your help" She sighed and Hermione arched an eyebrow, Ginny looked really nervous. "I have this crush." She admitted and Hermione frowned why was Ginny so worked up about a crush?

"Right?" She prompted and the red head blushed furiously and bit down on her bottom lip. Hermione restrained herself from slapping the girl "Ginny I've had a really long day can you just get right down to the nitty gritty and tell me what exactly is going on?" She sighed and Ginny let out a squeal making Hermione wince.

"I fancy Malfoy" Ginny half whispered half shouted, Hermione didn't even realise this was possible. She squinted and stared at the red head for a very long moment.

"Why?"

"Because he's dreamy" Ginny sighed and Hermione shook her head in utter disbelief.

"Ginny, this so called 'dreamy' boy has spent the past 6 years, 5 for you, of our school lives torturing us in every way possible. He used to call me a mudblood and you a blood traitor he says you're a peasant and practically spits at Harry and Ron, why on earth do you like HIM?" Hermione questioned her brain in overdrive.

"He's changed Hermione, the war changed us all" She whined

"He's changed has he? and how do you know this? You spend absolutely no time with the boy" As soon as she uttered those words Ginny's face beamed and Hermione realised where she fit into this plan. "But I do" She sighed and Ginny once again squealed.

"Exactly and you get to see him and talk to him and everything you can help me" She practically begged. Hermione glanced at the clock and let out a slow breath.

"Fine Ginny I'll help you"

"AHHHHHH thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" The red head screamed in delight and jumped on Hermione.

"As long as I can go to bed right now" Hermione added and GInny jumped off her friend, nodding and dashing up the stairs to her own room.

"Merlins beard what have I gotten myself into now" The brunette whispered to herself before finally making it to her dorm.

Hermione's peaceful morning lasted all of 30 minutes as Ginny caught up to her on the way into the Great Hall.

"So?" The red head beamed and Hermione arched a brow glancing at the girl.

"So?" She repeated and Ginny sighed exasperated

"How's it going have you mentioned me yet? Do you think he likes me? Has he changed really? What do you think?" She gushed and Hermione held up both hands to silence the girl.

"Now, realistically Ginny do you think I have spoken to Malfoy from the time you left me at midnight last night to right now when I am leaving the Gryffindor common room at 8 in the morning?" She questioned and Ginny shook her head opening her mouth about to reply but Hermione cut her off "I will only do this Gin if you do not pester me every five seconds about it, I will come to you, you will not come to me are we clear?"

"Yes, sorry" The other girl muttered and they pushed through the doors to the Great Hall only to run into none other than the subject of conversation himself.

Hermione smacked into his chest and recoiled hard, this had happened many a time before and the brunette had now learnt that his chest was very hard indeed and her small frame smacking into it made absolutely no impact on him at all however it always left her with quite a sore head.

"Granger!" Malfoy announced not even glancing at the blushing red head that stood next to her "time to go" Hermione's eyes snapped up to his

"But I haven't even had breakfast yet" She protested her bottom lip sticking out, Malfoy just rolled his eyes.

"Dumbledore want's to see us and then we have to go and see the Hufflepuff prefects" He arched a meaningful brow and she let out a long sigh understanding his meaning.

"Fine, fine let me just grab a muffin" She pleaded and he nodded crossing his arms in wait. Hermione hurried to the Gryffindor table, which meant Ginny, had now been left alone with Malfoy; he glanced down at her as if noticing her for the first time. She grinned and he snorted turning away from her and watching Granger as she arrived back at his side.

"Ready?" He asked as she took a bite out of her muffin making a sound far too pleasurable to be linked to a simple blueberry muffin. She gave him the thumbs up and the blond simply shook his head before leading the way out through the Great Hall doors. Hermione was about to follow after him when Ginny grabbed her elbow and pulled her to a stop.

The brunette flung around so suddenly she almost lost her balance.

"Jesus Ginny, careful! I nearly lost my muffin!" Hermione announced but the red head wasn't listening.

"Talk to him for me" She begged and Hermione rolled her eyes taking another bite of her muffin.

"I was planning on talking to him," She mumbled around her mouth full of food.

"About me!" Ginny whined and Hermione managed to shake herself out of her friends grasp.

"Yes Ginny now chill out remember what we agreed" The brunette instructed and made to walk out the doors when they were flung open and Draco Malfoy reappeared.

"I thought you were coming," He prompted and Hermione nodded shoving past Ginny and following her fellow head of school.

"You seem to be in a cheery mood this morning" She quipped sarcastically as she savored her muffin. Draco arched an eyebrow and looked down at her as she fell into step beside him. It was something that he had never imagined would happen but he almost felt comfortable around her now. They had walked side by side so many times now that the frosty chill that once separated them had thawed slightly and they now seemed able to actually be civil, but she certainly wasn't going to get away with that comment unscathed.

"And you seem to be enjoying your breakfast a little to much" He smirked as she once again let out a delightful moan. The noise instantly stopped and she flushed a little before stuffing the rest into her mouth and dusting her hands on her robe.

"So Dumbledore huh?" Hermione announced changing the subject. Draco just hummed in response and kept up his quick stride. At first Hermione had scolded him for walking so quickly but now she rather enjoyed it, they were always early no matter where they went and she found it quite refreshing in the morning, she even thought she'd lost a few pounds. "Does he know about last night?" She asked and he sighed.

"I have no idea, we're buggered if he does" He replied and Hermione nodded silently.

"I should have been harder on them"

"And why weren't you? No offence Granger but your punishments are normally fantastically cruel and last night just seemed to be… tame" He asked glancing down at the top of her head. She chewed on her lip for a moment before shrugging.

"I don't know to be honest I guess I just thought that well…. everyone gets down don't they?" She replied. There was no way that she was telling him that when love lives were mentioned she couldn't help but feel sorry for them and even want to join in on the drinking, there was no way he was going to know that she was lonely.

"Sherbet Lemons" Draco announced and the gargoyle to Dumbledore's office leapt out the way allowing the two to ascend the stairs.

**Hope you liked it! Please R&R and let me know what you think! Love VaM xx**


	2. Potions

**Hi everyone, sorry it's such a short chapter but I thought I would upload what I had written for a quick update :) please R&R it really helps me to keep writing or I just get worried now one likes it! :( thank you! xx**

It was after they had finished scolding the Hufflepuff prefects and handing out extra duties and were packing up rota's that it finally crossed Hermione's mind to mention Ginny.

"So…" She began taking the new round sheets out of Malfoy's hands.

"So?" He replied as he charmed his books into his bag.

"You know Ginny?" She asked trying to be casual.

"Who?" he frowned looking up at her confused.

"You know, red hair?" She prompted but the bemused look on his face remained and she sighed "Ron's sister" She could see the cogs turning and he snapped his fingers

"The Weslette!" He announced and Hermione was shocked to find that this comment amused her. She mental scolded herself for laughing at an insult aimed at her friend.

"Her name's Ginny" She corrected and Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"What about her?" He asked and Hermione faltered, how exactly was she supposed to communicate Ginny's affections for him.

"What do you think about her?" She asked and Draco stopped what he was doing, swinging his bag onto his shoulder he folded his arms and turned to face Hermione one eyebrow arched. "What?" She defended as she mirrored his actions.

"What is this about Granger? Since when do you ask me for my opinion on girls?" He questioned and she couldn't help but blush.

"It was just a simple question" but he shook his head

"Nothing with you is 'just a question'" She held up her hands in defense and he shook his head pushing off from the desk behind him. "Come on we've got potions class and you know Snape will be on your arse if you're late" He announced and she glanced at her watch realising he was right.

Unfortunately they were late, even as Hermione practically ran down towards the dungeons she knew they were late.

"Fuck!" She swore and she heard Malfoy laugh behind her. "It's not funny, hurry up!" She cried.

"I don't need to hurry its not me he'll take house points from!" He called back and she cursed again before flying into the potions room. The whole class turned to look at her and she found herself blushing for the third time that morning.

"Sorry I'm late professor but Malfoy and I had to hold a prefects meeting this morning" She gushed as said blonde haired boy breezed in behind her and took his seat at the back of the room.

"That is no excuse Miss Granger-" Snape began but surprisingly he was cut off mid sentence.

"My fault Professor, needed to scold the Hufflepuff's and Granger had to be there" Malfoy announced as he raised his hand in the air to gain Snape's attention. Hermione blinked in confusion before glancing at the boy who winked in response, she shivered in horror and turned back to Snape.

"Very well, take your seat Miss Granger" The brunette did not need to be told twice and dropped into her seat by the door Blaise separating her and Draco.

Potions had never really gripped Hermione and she soon found her attention wondering, apparently the same was true for Malfoy as he had already shoved his text book to one side and was currently undertaking some new task in his note book. She crannied her neck trying to see but failed. Her eyes wondered the room searching for something to do when a piece of paper was unceremoniously plonked down in front of her. She looked up into the eyes of a grinning Blaise before turning her attention to the paper he had just presented to her.

_Cursed and how_

Was scrawled at the top of the paper in Draco's delicate script, underneath he had written;

_Pavarti- Blasting Curse_

She arched a brow before her eyes fell on the next words written in Blaise's messy hand

_Pansy - Full body-bind curse_

Hermione snorted and quickly covered it up with a cough; she looked at the two to find them watching her with raised brows. Picking up her pen she wrote;

_Longbottom - Babbling curse _

Then slid it back to them, they both grinned wide and continued there game of, who would you curse and with what.

Hermione grinned wider as she passed the paper back for the 7th time that lesson, she had been amazed at the people they had written (most of them were in Slytherin) and she had enjoyed making up a few of her own, in one she had even decided to curse Ron. It was positively liberating. It was Snape's voice that snapped her back to reality.

"Do you find something amusing Miss Granger?" He asked, it was only then that she realised her face was stretched into a large Cheshire cat like grin she quickly wiped it from her features and shook her head.

"No Professor nothings funny at all" She quickly replied and all would have been fine if Blaise hadn't let out a quite deep chuckle right next to her ear. The face splitting grin reappeared and instantly Snape's face flamed.

"MISS GRANGER! I advise you to wipe that grin from your face this instant before I send you to Dumbledore! 10 points from Gryffindor" But it was too late Hermione was stuck with the giggles. Her face lit up and she let out a delicate laugh that echoed around the otherwise silent room. "MISS GRANGER! GET OUT OF MY CLASS!" Snape bellowed and, still laughing, Hermione gathered her things and slung them over her shoulder, however that was not the end of her ordeal.

Being the uncoordinated person that she was, as she slung her bag over her shoulder she managed to hit Blaise square in the face and a joyful Malfoy, who was already struggling to hold back his own laughter, let out an almighty chuckle. If the room could have fallen any quitter it would have at that very moment. Hermione was now in a bout of full blown giggles, which, unfortunately, Draco soon caught and within moments the Gryffindor princess and the Slytherin prince had been kicked out potions.

As the two sobered up in the hall they quickly realised whose company they were in.

"You got me kicked out!" Hermione protested the horror evident in her voice.

"Oh quite down Grange, you had a blast" Draco silenced her and for once Hermione had no quick response. "Come on we need to go meet the prefects to check their round reports any way" He announced and led the way down the hall.

Hermione once again fell into step behind him and was left with very confusing thoughts. Were she and Malfoy… friends? Surely not, she hated him. Friends was the wrong word, they were… comfortable. She could honestly be herself with him and that was refreshing, she couldn't even be herself with Harry and Ron. He really couldn't care less if she said something inappropriate or even mean; in fact he normally found it funny. Her talent as a witch didn't intimidate him, as he was just as talented.

"Oi Granger come back down to earth" He snapped and she blinked looking up at him.

"Huh?"

"Where do you go when you look like that?" He asked and she frowned.

"Look like what?" She asked and he screwed his face up gazing up at the ceiling and sticking his tongue out. She whacked him across the chest making him chuckle.

"I do not look like that," She grumbled but all he did was grin.

They were early for midmorning briefing but that was always the case, it only took a few minutes for the prefects to join them and hand over their round reports.

"So anything to report?" Hermione asked casting her eyes over the Slytherin and Ravenclaw prefects as it was their turn to patrol, there were a few Hufflepuff ones here too, doing time for their bad behavior. Cho Chang raised her hand Hermione rolled her eyes, she had told the girls so many times to not raise her hands in these meetings.

"There were a group of Gryffindor third years out by the lake in class, I've written all their names down but something was definitely going on" She announced and Hermione nodded looking at Draco who had already pulled out her report.

"Alright, Thank you Cho"

**Hope you liked it guys! I'm really liking where this story is going! Remember to R&R! VaM xx**


	3. Liquorice wands

**Hi everyone, so 2 updates in one day! Woooooohooooo! I've had the day off today so been a busy writing bee, please R and R and I just might be this quick again! thank you! xx**

Later that evening Hermione found herself seated outside McGonagall's office next to the same person she now found herself spending obscene amounts of time with, Draco Malfoy. They had just handed over four third year Gryffindor boys to the head of house, the same four Cho had mentioned earlier, they had discovered the boys had been planning to steal supplies from Snape's cupboard to make magical explosions to prank the third year Gryffindor girls. They had been sitting in silence for a long time and it was Draco who finally broke that silence.

"Makes you laugh really doesn't it?" He asked and she frowned in confusion.

"What does?" He nodded towards McGonagall's door and sighed.

"All they have to worry about is pranking each other, in our third year we were hatching plans to kill each other" He replied and she blinked taken aback at his casual reference. "Lighten up Granger it was a long time ago," He prompted and she tilted her head to one side, she supposed he was right it was a long time ago, in fact it almost felt like a different life.

"And we had to worry about how to swerve past all the dementor's we had surrounding this place" She added and he nodded thoughtfully then smiled

"Ah to relive our time here again" He smirked and she allowed herself a smile.

"Such fun"

They both laughed at that but were silenced as McGonagall's door opened and the woman herself stood in the archway a slight smile on her lips.

"Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy would you be so kind as to escort these four to Filch were they will be undertaking their detention?" She requested and Hermione and Draco rose to their feet smirking as the four trudged out her office all looking thoroughly scolded. McGonagall flashed the two heads of school a smile before once again closing her door.

"Unlucky" Draco laughed as he led the way towards Filch's 'office'.

"Filch isn't all that bad, it could be worse" Hermione tried to appease them but Draco let out a loud snort, chuckling to himself. The rest of the journey was done in silence. Hermione knocked twice on the small wooden door only to have it practically ripped off its hinges by Filch as he flung it open.

"What do you want?" He snapped as Mrs. Norris purred around his feet her body arched as if she was prepared to pounce on unsuspecting strangers.

"Got four for you Filch" Draco replied gesturing to the poor Gryffindor boys. Filch smiled his sinister smile and led the boys away down a corridor.

"Poor things" Hermione muttered chuckling regardless, causing Draco to smirk.

"You have such a twisted sense of humor," He laughed and she glared at him for a brief moment before shrugging. Her thoughts were once again brought back to her red haired friend and she sighed, she really should be trying to help the girl.

"So, about Ginny" Hermione began and Draco arched a brow looking down at her as the pair headed down to the Head's room to go over the final day reports handed in by the prefects.

"What is your damn obsession with that ginger freak?" He asked and she glared at him again.

"That 'ginger freak' is my best friend and a very nice person," She snapped and he rolled her eyes.

"Really?"

"What do you mean 'really?"

"You just said it yourself Granger, she's a 'nice' person" He began "Does that not bore you shitless?" He asked and she titled her head to one side trying to process this question for a moment.

"She's a good person" She replied and he snorted

"Exactly…. boring, each to their own and everything Granger but you'd never catch me hanging out with someone so good and nice" He shrugged and Hermione bit her lip thinking for a moment. He had a point, nothing exciting ever happened with Harry, Ron and Ginny anymore. Not since Voldermort's demise. All they did these days was play Quidditch and discuss mundane activities. She always had far more fun with Draco. "Are you gunna help me with these reports or just stand in the doorway?" He asked looking up at her from the desk he now sat at.

Hermione had always liked their shared office, he had one side and she the other both were organized and tidy so it was always a nice space to work. She dropped into her chair next to his and held out her hand for the reports which he handed over without protest.

"Why do you keep bringing up the red head anyway?" Draco asked after a moment and she just shrugged not answering his question. She shifted in her chair and kicked her feet up onto the arm of Draco's chair. The blonde boy looked over at her and the small frown that marred her brows as she concentrated and he couldn't help but smile.

"Morning all!" Ginny greeted loudly as she dropped into the space next to Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

"Morning Gin" Harry grinned brightly but it wasn't the boy she was there to see, she fixed her piercing gaze on Hermione and coughed loudly. Hermione slowly turned her head to face her and raised an eyebrow.

"Have you spoken to him?" Ginny demanded and Hermione gulped she opened her mouth the reply but Ron cut her off.

"Herms I got you these!" His loud voice informed the whole table as he joined them sitting next to Harry. Hermione looked at the offered box of licorice wands and was once again stopped from speaking as a loud snort erupted from behind her.

"That was a waste of money Weasel" Draco's voice announced and Ginny started, a ridiculous girly giggle erupting from her that made Hermione cringe.

"And why is that Malfoy?" Ron sneered his eyes narrowing as he still held the box in his hands.

"Granger hates licorice" He shrugged and Hermione arched a brow. She and Draco were a lot closer than she had originally thought. Ron looked at her with hope.

"You don't hate licorice do you Herms?" He asked and she shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry Ron but it gives me a-"

"rash" Draco finished for her and she daren't question how he knew that.

"Er yea a rash" She nodded.

"And she'll be coughing all bloody day if she even smells them" Draco added and Hermione just nodded in agreement.

"Sorry Ron, it was a nice thought," She offered but Draco snorted once again, making it clear that in fact he thought it was an idiotic thought.

"Hurry up Granger, McGonagall says we have to take the Gryffindor boys back down to Filch this morning" Malfoy announced and Hermione held up a finger as she quickly devoured a piece of toast, nothing was going to stand in the way of her breakfast.

"Hello Draco" Ginny's voice squeaked into the air and the blonde boy glanced down at her. Unfortunately Ginny had a large piece of jam on her cheek and as she smiled the raspberry seeds from said jam were stuck inbetween her teeth.

Draco shivered in disgust and took a large step away from the red head and closer to Hermione. Hermione elbowed her friend and pointed to her cheek. A horrified Ginny flamed a brighter red then her hair and furiously wiped at the stain.

Just as Hermione was about to get to her feet Ron decided to speak.

"You are such a jack ass Malfoy," The red head announced and Hermione arched a brow, Malfoy had done nothing but stand and speak to her, yet Ron had decided to throw an insult his way.

"Do be quite Ronald, you're making yourself look like a fool" Hermione instructed and she rose to her feet and took her place at Draco's side.

"Yes Ronald you are" Draco mimicked smirking at the red head as Hermione began to walk away, Ron flamed as Draco quickened his pace to catch up with Hermione.

"Do you have to provoke him?" She sighed as the pair left the Great Hall to come face to face with four very sullen looking Gryffindor boys.

"Morning!" Draco greeted brightly and one boy jumped a good foot in the air at the sudden noise.

"Do we have to go back to Flich?" The black haired boy asked as the four of them fell into step behind the Head's of school.

"Don't complain about it, Flich isn't as bad as some" Draco announced as he rounded a corner and bumped straight into the man in question. "We were just bringing this lot to you" The blonde haired boy announced jabbing a finger over his shoulder towards the boys. Flich grinned and jerked his head indicating that they follow.

"Poor things" Hermione sighed watching as they were led away, Draco was about to reply when he was cut off by the loud voice of Blaise Zabini.

"Oi! Blondie!" The deep tones of the Latin American were hard to mistake for anyone else. The grin that stretched across Draco's face almost caused Hermione to falter, almost.

"Well, well, well, look who it is! Git face!" He called back and Blaise grinned at him before the pair grabbed each other in a manly hug.

"Your majesty" Blaise greeted bowing at Hermione who rolled her eyes and smiled anyway.

"Rise, peasant" She replied and stuck her nose in the air. Blaise chuckled deeply and winked at her. Draco saw this and also saw her brilliant smile towards his best friend, for some reason unbeknownst to him it irritated him but he shook it off quickly.

"Headed to the morning briefing?" Blaise asked as he linked his arm with Hermione's. Draco stiffened and shoved his friend hard, causing him to stumble backwards and release the Head Girl.

"Alright prat! Calm your beans, let's go!" Blaise laughed dusting himself off and falling into step with the two as they headed off to their meeting.

**Hope you liked it guys! I'm really liking where this story is going! Remember to R&R! VaM xx**


	4. The Quidditch match

**Hi everyone, please R and R and let me know what you think I find it really useful and inspiring to read your comments! thank you! xx**

Finally after Transfiguration Hermione found herself alone. She seemed to constantly be surrounded by people these days that it was nice to have two minutes peace and quite. She let a smile slip onto her face as she allowed her feet to carry her to the only place she would want to be, the library.

Finding her usual seat she dumped her bags and went wondering around the shelves pulling books down here and there to flick through their pages. Just as she felt some of the days tension leave her body, her quite calm space was rudely broken into.

"Hermione!" The word was a squeal and high pitched and she recognized it instantly.

"Hello Gin" She replied without turning to face the red head that she knew now stood behind her.

"Hermione, spill everything!" She squeaked darting into Hermione's view and causing the brunette to drop her book. Letting out a long sigh she stooped to pick it up and placed it back in its rightful place before finally looking at her friend.

One look in the girls shinning green eyes and she instantly felt bad. Ginny was just a girl with a crush desperate to please a boy, everyone had been there.

"Alright Gin. Come on let's go sit down and talk" She smiled leading the red head to her favorite table and sitting down shoving her book bag out the way so Ginny could join her.

Ginny lent across the table and folded her hands together waiting intently for Hermione to begin to speak.

"Well I spoke to him, I keep dropping your name in and he thinks you're… a nice person" Hermione smiled, it was true and he had agreed with her that Ginny was a nice person. She wasn't lying.

Ginny squealed again and clapped her hands excitedly. Hermione instantly felt terrible, was this the right thing to do? She really shouldn't be leading the red head on, particularly when Malfoy couldn't even remember who her friend was.

"The thing is Gin, is he doesn't really know you, I guess it's hard for him to make a decision about you" She hurried and the girl nodded thoughtfully.

"Ok, I'll try and talk to him more" She nodded and giggled excitedly once again. The brunette offered her friend a weak smile in return.

Suddenly Ginny jumped to her feet and looked over her shoulder at Hermione.

"Are you coming or not?" The red head asked a little indignantly for someone who was relying so heavily on Hermione's assistance. Hermione arched an eyebrow in response.

"Coming where exactly?" She asked looking around the library; she was already in her safe place, why would she want to leave? Ginny rolled her eyes and let out a long exaggerated sigh.

"The Quidditch match of course! It's Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff!" She announced and this time it was Hermione's turn to sigh. She supposed she would have to go; she cast a regretful glance at the room around her thinking of all the work she had to do before getting to her feet. She made a mental note to collect the prefect round reports after the match and smiled at Ginny.

"Of course I am," She announced and Ginny beamed linking her arm with Hermione's before dragging her away. Hermione muttered a quick charm to send her book bag back to her dorm and willingly walked along with her friend.

The pair joined the crowds of people out in the hall all heading down towards the pitch. That was when she felt the familiar presence of her fellow Head of school at her side.

"This is such a farce," He muttered, Hermione didn't reply assuming he was talking to someone else. "Oi Granger, don't ignore me that's bloody rude," He scolded and she looked up at his annoyed face. Ginny had stiffened next to her and she tried to ease her friend along as the red head stared wide-eyed up at the boy.

"What is Malfoy? You're bleached blonde hair?" Hermione quipped and he glared down at her.

"I do _not_ bleach my hair Granger," He informed her and she arched an eyebrow sending him an incredulous look.

"Suuuuuure Malfoy" She nodded, making it very clear that she didn't believe him at all.

"All this bloody fuss for a Gryffindor and Hufflepuff match" He muttered but Hermione didn't offer a reply, she agreed with him, it was bloody ridiculous, but she definitely wasn't going to tell him that.

"Hi Draco" Ginny finally squeaked and Malfoy cast his deep grey eyes towards the red head as if noticing her for the first time, his eyes travelled from her brilliant red head over her red and gold scarf and red and gold top and down to the tips of her toes and back again, this made Hermione extremely uncomfortable.

He didn't say anything for a moment before finally his gaze returned to Hermione and he frowned as he realised she'd turned an interesting shade of purple.

"You alright Granger?" He asked and Hermione felt her face get even hotter she just nodded in response. "I guess you're going down to support pot head and weasel then?" He asked and she nodded, a little confused as to why he was still making conversation with her when he didn't need to be at her side.

"Hello Draco!" Ginny squeaked again a little louder, Hermione frowned as she realised Draco hadn't acknowledged Ginny's previous greeting in the slightest.

This time Malfoy didn't even look over at her.

"Anyway Granger see you at evening briefing" He muttered and turned away pushing through the throngs of people with surprising ease. Well surprising to Ginny, Hermione knew how strong he was.

"He didn't even say hello to me!" Ginny wailed as soon as his blonde head was out of sight. Hermione sighed and offered her friend a sympathetic smile.

"Maybe he was just shy," She offered and Ginny glared at her.

"If there is one thing I know about Draco Malfoy it's that he is NOT shy!" She announced and Hermione cringed, Ginny was right, he was not shy. "Come on 'Mione I need to watch some Quidditch" Ginny muttered and Hermione allowed her friend to tug her all the way down to the pitch.

When they arrived Hermione settled into her seat next to Ginny and smiled at Neville who was seated next to her. The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams were already on the pitch and it was clear that Gryffindor was going to win. Zaharias Smith wasn't playing as he had extra prefect duties (due to his misconduct in the Hufflepuff common room) and everyone knew he was the only decent player on the Hufflepuff team. Hufflepuff didn't stand a chance.

Ginny was spouting profanities unlike anything Hermione had ever heard before. Gryffindor had lost, her read head friend was still screaming and shouting about it back in the common room muttering that if she had been playing they would have won.

In all honesty Hermione really didn't care. She was sick to death of Quidditch talk, who cared if they lost one match to Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff would never win the cup anyway they were too far behind to stand a chance, let them enjoy this one win.

That was when Harry and Ron trudged into the Gryffindor common room miserable sullen faces in tow.

Ginny jumped to her feet.

"You were robbed!" She shouted and Harry nodded both boys hurrying over to the girls.

"It was bloody ridiculous" Ron nodded anger written across his face.

"The ref was biased" Harry decided and Hermione rolled her eyes, really Madame Hooch was probably the most honest person Hermione could think of.

"The ref was not biased" Hermione announced and three very angry faces rounded on her. She blinked a little taken a back at the death stares she was receiving "Madame Hooch has been calling games for the past 10 years, she is not biased" Hermione decided sounding more sure of herself now.

"How would you know?!" Ron called a little too loudly and drawing the attention of a few first year Gryffindor's who had been playing chess in the corner.

"Suddenly you're a Quidditch expert are you?" Harry snapped and Hermione bristled, how dare they speak to her like that.

"No, but-" She began but she was quickly cut off.

"God Hermione you've turned into such a bitch!" Ron snapped and Hermione blinked, wide-eyed. She really didn't want to cry, she really really didn't and she cursed herself as she felt her eyes begin to sting with unshed tears.

"Ron-"

Once again she was cut off before she even began her sentence.

"You're turning into a Slytherin" Harry ground out and Hermione blinked in surprise. A Slytherin, what on earth were they talking about.

"You spend all your time surrounded by them it's no wonder really" Ron taunted and Hermione frowned. Ginny had gone very quite and had sat back down on the sofa, staring at her hands.

"Ronald you know I have to spend time with Malfoy, he's head boy for Merlin's sake" She tried to defend herself, fighting the tears from falling.

"What about Zabini then?" Harry asked and Hermione frowned again, she liked Blaise, she had grown fond of him over the past few months.

"Blaise is a nice person," She announced and the look in the boy's eye's turned murderous.

"BLAISE, oh it's Blaise is it, we didn't realise you were so close. He's a bloody Slytherin Hermione he is not a nice person" Ron glared at her almost spitting fire in his anger. Hermione got to her feet, how dare they insult her friend like that, they didn't even know him.

"Stop this both of you" She instructed and the boys just continued to glare at her.

"Come down off your high horse Hermione and see what a gigantic asshole you've become!" Ron shouted and Hermione bit her lip, she felt the first tear fall before she whirled on her heel and headed for the portrait hole.

"Just run away Hermione" Harry called, she stopped walking briefly before shaking her head and ducking out the common room.

She stormed angrily towards evening briefing the tears falling unchecked as she dodged round students. How dare they! HOW DARE THEY!

She shouldered open the door to her meeting and froze as she saw everyone was already there. She glanced at her watch, shit, she was 10 minutes late, she was never late. She wiped furiously at her wet cheeks and plastered a smile on her face.

"Sorry I'm late, did I miss anything?" She asked directing her attention towards Malfoy. The boy was staring at her with a strange look on his face; his deep grey eyes seemed to assess her for a long moment before he finally shook his head.

"No, just collecting round reports" He replied holding up the pieces of parchment already in his hands.

"Good, so has there been anything to report?" She asked turning to face the prefects in front of her. No one spoke and she almost felt relieved, she didn't want to be here for any longer than she had too.

"So that just leaves next week's duties and briefing" She announced and a few nodded. "I will send parchment to all of you on Friday for next week's rounds" She instructed and looked to Malfoy to complete briefing.

He got straight to the point reciting the rules and regulations off by heart and announcing the first years ball that was coming up in a few weeks and that they needed all prefects to supervise. It was a quick meeting and Hermione was relieved as the prefects began to leave.

Draco glanced down at her and it was only when the pair reached their shared office to go through the reports and he had closed the door behind him that he finally spoke.

"What?" He asked and Hermione blinked looking up at him.

"What, what?" She asked and he glared at her dropping into his chair and handing her half the reports.

"Don't what me Granger, what is wrong with you?" He asked and she frowned sitting in her own chair and tucking her legs up underneath her.

"Nothing" She muttered turning her attention to the reports, a few minutes passed before Malfoy let out a loud sigh and slammed his reports onto the table causing Hermione to jump.

"Dammit Granger just tell me" He instructed running a hand through his hair, Hermione looked up at him and was surprised to see how aggravated he looked. She bit on her bottom lip and saw his eyes drawn there before they snapped back up to her eyes.

"Fine" She sighed, putting her own reports down on her desk. "It's silly really" She begun.

"I highly doubt that" He replied "If it's got you crying then it can't be nothing" He elaborated and she mentally cursed herself, she had been hoping he hadn't noticed her tears.

"Harry and Ron" She finally announced and he frowned.

"Aren't they your best mates?" He asked as he turned his quill in a circle absently.

"Mmmmmm" She nodded looking at her own quill with a sudden interest.

"Don't go quite on me Granger," He instructed and she let out a long exaggerated sigh.

"They're assholes" She announced and he chuckled.

"Of course they are, but that's nothing new" He smirked and she sent him a quick scathing look before biting her lip again.

"They were being all sulky and moody about losing the Quidditch match," Malfoy snorted at this but Hermione ignored him and carried on. "Harry said Hooch was biased and I stuck up for her, anyway long story short they both called me an asshole and a bitch and basically that I didn't belong in Gryffindor" She muttered and glanced up at Malfoy to gauge his reaction, if he had agreed with them then she thought she might actually curse him, that or punch him in the face. But that was not his reaction, he frowned, his eyebrows pulling together and a strange look crossing his face, a look Hermione didn't recognize.

Suddenly he picked up a piece of parchment and threw it at her, it hit her square in the face. Hermione stared at him for a long moment before a grin stretched across his face and she rolled her eyes.

"Child" She muttered and picked up her reports, just as she did another piece of parchment hit her in the face. She glared at him "So help me Merlin, if you do that a-" another piece of parchment hit her. "That's it!" She threw her hands in the air and lobbed a piece of parchment back at him, he grinned at her and she smiled before a laugh escaped her.

"And you call me a child" He grinned shaking his head and returning to his work. Hermione stared at the top of his head for a long moment, she wasn't sure what she was feeling but it definitely wasn't hatred. Ginny didn't even cross her mind.

**Hope you liked it guys! I'm really liking where this story is going! Remember to R&R! VaM xx**


	5. Breaking brooms

**Hi everyone, please R and R and let me know what you think I find it really useful and inspiring to read your comments! Also this chapter is one of my favs, I hope it's one of yours too! Thank you! xx**

Hermione marched into breakfast with a stern look on her face; she plonked herself down at the Gryffindor table and grabbed a piece of toast. A moment later Ginny slid into the space next to her.

"Morning Hermione" She whispered and Hermione turned to face her, the red head offered a weak smile "I'm so sorry Hermione, I should have stood up for you, Harry and Ron were being such jerks" She hurried and Hermione folded her arms "I know it's such a ridiculous excuse but when they started talking about Malfoy I just got worried in case they found out… you know" She whispered and Hermione sighed. She loved her friend, really she did. Ginny had been there for her through a lot and it would be ridiculous to lose her because of something so petty.

"It's ok Gin, I understand, just next time put up a fight" She smiled and Ginny nodded enthusiastically playfully shoving Hermione's shoulder and smiling herself.

It was that moment that they were joined by Harry and Ron. Hermione was about to speak but Ginny had gotten there first.

"How dare you sit here!?" She announced in a loud voice.

"Excuse me" Ron spat glaring at his sister.

"After what you said to Hermione you don't have the right to be sitting here!" She announced and Hermione smiled, her little red head friend sure was fiery.

Someone coughed loudly behind her before Ron could reply; she turned to see the very familiar face of Draco Malfoy and in his hands was a very broken Firebolt, a Firebolt that was snapped in half.

"Potter" Malfoy announced and Harry brought his eyes up to the Slytherin, his face drained of colour.

"W-what have you done to my broom!" Harry wailed jumping to his feet.

"Found it like this, someone had dumped it in the hall" Malfoy replied and Hermione assessed him for a moment. His lips had twitched up just slightly at the corner and his eyes sparked with exhilaration. He was lying, she knew he was lying and she would bet 50 galleons that he had broken the broom himself.

"My ass you found it Malfoy!" Harry ground out and Malfoy arched an eyebrow.

"Now, now Potter, is that any way to talk to the Head Boy. Any more insolence like that and I'll have to take further action" Malfoy quipped and Hermione could have sworn he'd winked at her. Actually WINKED at her.

Malfoy lent over Hermione and handed the pieces of the broom to Harry before turning to leave. Suddenly he turned back round and looked at Ron.

"Oh and Weasley, some first years found the entire contents of your chest strewn around the black lake this morning" He announced and then turned on his heel and headed towards the Slytherin table, Hermione could see his shoulders shaking as he chuckled to himself and she shook her head.

Hermione didn't see Draco again until she walked into their shared office at lunchtime. There was no point in having a briefing everyday and today was a day off.

"Alright Granger" He nodded in greeting and she folded her arms looking down at him.

"Did you do it Malfoy?" She asked and he looked up at her a look of mock surprise on his face.

"Do what?" He asked innocently.

"Don't be coy with me Malfoy, did you break Harry's broom and destroy Ron's stuff?" She asked and he looked at her for a long moment before a large grin stretched across his face.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean" He replied and she rolled her eyes, shaking her head and laughing.

"If you did, thank you. But you shouldn't do things like that, you're Head boy what if someone had seen you" She scolded and he just blinked in response.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Granger" He replied then winked at her, again. This was all getting rather too comfortable. She stood in the doorway for a moment and then sighed.

"Draco" She whispered and he started his eyes wide at the use of his first name. "Can you do me a favor?" she asked and he tilted his head to one side, waiting for the favor to be named "Can you just try talking to Ginny?"

He stared at her for a very long time; 5 minutes at least must have passed by.

"Why?" He finally asked and she shrugged her shoulders.

"It's just something I need you to do, please?" She asked again he rolled his eyes and sipped his butter beer he had resting on his desk.

"Alright" He nodded and she raised an eyebrow at how easy that had been "I'm not promising anything Granger, I'm just saying I'll talk to the Weaslette" He instructed.

"Please don't call her that, at least to her face," She asked and he rolled his eyes once again before nodding and turning his attention back to the essay he was writing.

Hermione opened bleary eyes to be faced with the sight of her shared Head's office. She blinked twice a little disorientated before sitting up and stretching out her sore muscles. She glanced at her watch 11:30pm, great. Sighing she tilted her head from one side to the other and looked around the small room. A small piece of paper rested on her desk on top of a large pile of books and a few notes she frowned and picked it up.

_Granger,_

_Don't get your knickers in a twist about missing classes this afternoon, nothing exciting happened. Here are the books you need and a few notes I took. Seriously don't panic you were tired and every once in a while it is ok to miss a class, I swear to Merlin if you bloody panic I will put a sleeping curse on you and you'll sleep through every class you ever have._

_Malfoy._

She flipped the note over a little confused, the fact she had missed class hadn't even occurred to her at first. She felt the bubbling panic rise up inside her but squashed it down, Malfoy was equally as intelligent as she was and he had said she'd missed nothing important.

She looked up at the rota pinned to the wall and gulped. Her name was flashing a deep purple indicating that she should in fact be on duty now. Cursing herself under her breath she charmed the books Malfoy had left her up to her dorm where she would read them meticulously later and flung the door to the corridors open, beginning her patrol around the quite corridors.

It was a mid week shift and highly rare that she ever caught any one out of bed at this hour, apart from Malfoy he always wondered the corridor's at night and she had given up scolding him for it.

She rounded a corner humming to herself as she held her wand out in front of her to light the corridors and came to a complete stop. Standing just outside the Gryffindor common room was Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley, he was lent casually against the wall as she lent towards him giggling.

He said something else and once again Ginny fell into boundless giggles. Hermione stood glued to the spot her eyes fixed on the pair; she couldn't identify the emotions bubbling inside of her. She was happy, right? Her friend was finally talking to her crush and it had been Hermione who had helped her to do it. But the emotion she was feeling was definitely not happiness, Ginny lent a little closer to Malfoy and Hermione sucked in a large painful breath striding forwards. Malfoy was the first to notice her presence and his cool grey eyes slid from the red head to Hermione.

"Granger" He greeted in a nod but Hermione had not come to speak to him.

"What are you doing up Ginny? It's way past curfew," She announced and the red head flamed sending Hermione a desperate look and nodding towards Malfoy. "Get inside Ginny before I change my mind and decide to punish you!" She stated and the red head did as she was told, not wishing to tempt Hermione's well-known temper.

Draco and Hermione stood staring at each other for a long moment before the blonde kicked off from the wall and disappeared into the dark corridors.

Hermione ran a shaky hand through her hair and let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. What was that all about? Suddenly she spun on her heel and let her fist connect with the hard stonewall behind her. She blinked as the pain hit her, had she really just punched a wall? How ridiculous.

Shaking her head she turned and left to finish her patrol.

Hermione had successfully dodged Malfoy all morning, which was a pretty impressive achievement as they were supposed to do rounds together and check up on the Gryffindor prefects.

However, now she had potions, a lesson that she shared with Draco and there was just simply no avoiding him now.

She slipped quietly into the dungeon and settled herself in her seat hoping that the lesson would start quickly, she had no such luck.

"And where in the bloody hell have you been?" Draco's pissed off voice rang out across the dark room as he slammed his books down onto the table. Everyone was quite used to the pair fighting and not a single soul turned their head to watch the commotion at the back of the class.

"I've been busy Malfoy," She snapped, not quite sure why she was angry with him but sticking with her anger anyway.

"Oh really? And what has kept you so busy that you decided to shirk all Head Girl responsibilities this morning?" He ground out; this caught a few people's attention, Hermione Granger skipping duties? Surely not.

"Just things Malfoy, I do have a life that doesn't solely revolve around you you know" She retorted and she saw a muscle in his jaw twitch, that meant he was mad, really mad.

"Yea I know, Pot Head and Weasel, only problem is Granger is they were with me. In the Gryffindor prefects meeting where you were SUPPOSED to be" He announced anger dripping from his voice in waves. Hermione paled, this was bad, he was very mad now and there was nothing she could do when he was mad.

"Look Malfoy I was just busy ok? You don't know everything about me, I had things to do" It was meant to sound snappy and indignant but it came out as more of an apology and she mentally scolded herself for it.

"Well next time you're 'just busy' would you mind letting me know so I don't wait around for a sodding half hour for your presence that is never going to arrive!" He barked out and dropped into his own chair one seat away from her.

That was when Blaise arrived and dropped into his own seat in between the two. He was about to speak when he caught the glares on both of their faces.

"Well the tension in here is just lovely," He quipped and ignored both angry scowls directed at him "I'm sure to have a fun potions lesson now!" He continued but his tirade was cut short as Snape breezed into the room.

Everyone turned their potions book to the correct page and began to follow along with the lesson. Hermione had already read all about invisibility potions and had even written a few essays about it (just for practice) so the lesson didn't capture her attention, as it should have.

She glared down at the page in front of her and wondered why she was so angry at the blonde Slytherin only one seat away. He'd done nothing wrong, in fact he'd be uncharacteristically kind and left her notes and books all about the classes she'd missed yesterday, and she hadn't even said thank you.

God, maybe Harry and Ron were right, maybe she was a bitch. She just couldn't shake the feeling that he'd betrayed her in some way. He'd even done what she'd asked and spoken to Ginny. She really was beginning to feel like a right asshole now, she risked a glance across at him but he was scribbling notes and didn't look up. She noticed his inkpot was low so she flicked her wand and it filled, this made him look up.

She offered a weak smile when his eyes connected with hers and in return he rolled his eyes and shook his head, but she could see the smile that he didn't show.

As the lesson drew to a close she once again looked across at him.

"Honestly Granger your emotions run crazy, pick a feeling and stick with it" Malfoy instructed as his eyes caught hers and she had the decency to blush.

"Look I'm not going to say I'm sorry Malfoy but I may have reacted inappropriately towards you. Also thanks for the notes," She added as and after thought. Draco crossed his arms and looked at Blaise who had stayed to watch the show and was currently grinning.

"That was a pretty shit apology Granger" Blaise announced and Hermione glared at him.

"Shut up ZABINI this has nothing to do with you" She snapped and Blaise chuckled shaking his head.

"I think he's right, you owe me a proper apology" Malfoy nodded and Hermione just sighed, boys.

"Alright I'm sorry I missed rounds and the meeting. Ok?" She asked looking at Blaise who just shrugged.

"Didn't really sound heart felt that," He decided and she rolled her eyes hoisting her book bag over her shoulder.

"If you think I am going to grovel for your forgiveness Malfoy you are sorely mistaken. I couldn't give a rat's ass if you liked me or not!" She announced and with that swept from the room.

"Touchy" Malfoy said to Blaise and the boy laughed loudly before they followed after the Head Girl.

**Hope you liked it guys! Remember to R&R! VaM xx**


	6. Where is he?

**Hey guys! The Dramione stuff is coming up really soon, stick with me! Please remember to R and R! Reading your comments always helps me write!**

Hermione couldn't have been more relieved when the weekend finally rolled around. Sure, she and Malfoy were speaking again and continuing their Head duties as instructed but their relationship had become tense and uncomfortable, particularly when he insisted on asking her why she'd 'wigged out' all the time.

She still hadn't confronted Harry and Ron properly about their appalling behavior, but it was still a relief that she didn't have to attend prefects meetings for two whole days and there would be no uncomfortable lessons shared with the Slytherin's. It was a genuine weight lifted from her shoulders.

She skipped down the stairs from her dorm at 9:30 having allowed herself a lie in, only to have her face fall as she saw Harry and Ron sitting in the common room.

Ducking her head she tried to dodge around them without being seen. She had almost made it out the portrait hole when…

"Hermione!" Ron's voice carried across the otherwise empty common room.

She cringed but never the less turned on her heel to face them.

"Yes?" She snapped folding her arms and arching an eyebrow allowing them to see just how pissed off she was.

Harry ran a hand through his hair and sent her a wide-eyed expression that just made her narrow her eyes even more.

"Hermione- " Ron began again but he was cut short. At that moment the portrait hole that Hermione currently stood in front of swung open with an almighty 'thwack!' The large opening hit Hermione sending her tumbling forwards and across the soft red carpet.

"Oh God Hermione I'm so sorry!" Neville Longbottom's voice rang through the room. Hermione pulled herself to her feet and dusted down her jeans before looking up at Neville.

"Don't worry about it, I was just leaving. No harm done!" She announced before walking straight out the open portrait not giving Harry and Ron a second glance.

Hermione felt positively liberated as she headed towards her office. She'd spent the morning out in the brilliant sunshine by the lake and had completely ignored Harry and Ron. She knew that she would hear them out soon enough and they would all go back to being friends but after how they treated her they deserved to suffer, just a little.

She'd successfully dodged Ginny as well, she still hadn't spoken to her friend since she'd caught her out of bed and she intended on keeping it that way for as long as possible. If she had to have another conversation about how dreamy Draco Malfoy was she was going to curse herself. That was the reason she was ignoring her friend, at least that's what she told herself.

She took a deep breath and she stood at the door to her office her own name and Draco Malfoy's side by side staring back at her. It was their weekly meeting time; there was just no avoiding this.

She swung the door open and was greeted by the sight of… no one. Frowning she looked around, Malfoy was never late to meetings, ever. She glanced at the clock; she was already 5 minutes late herself.

She dropped into her chair and kicked her feet up onto her desk staring at his empty chair, pulling a large textbook from behind her she decided she best get a start on her Transfiguration essay since she had time to kill.

"Finished!" She announced to no one as she looked down at her now completed Transfiguration essay. It was 16 pieces of parchment, with detailed diagrams and in depth descriptions. She was very pleased with herself; she rolled it up and tied it with a piece of red ribbon from the roll currently floating above her desk.

Suddenly it seemed to occur to her that she hadn't come to her office to write her essay and she glanced at her muggle watch.

"Merlin!" She exclaimed, she'd been here for nearly 6 hours and it was now 8 in the evening. She frowned, Malfoy never showed.

She wondered out into the corridor and cast her eyes from left to right as if expecting Malfoy to appear, he didn't.

She allowed the concerned frown to mar her face; no one was around after all. Taking a deep breath so pulled herself up to her full height and marched down to Slytherin common rooms.

The dungeons had always given her the creeps, and after the war she'd started seeing scary things lurking in the shadows. After all who could possibly forget something so traumatizing.

She stood face to face with the large stonewall that she knew separated her from the Slytherin common room just behind. Putting on her 'I'm head girl so you better not try anything' face, she uttered the password.

Slowly the brick began to tumble away revealing the deep emerald green and shimmering silver colours of the room behind it. A few faces turned to acknowledge the entrance but upon realising that it was Hermione Granger, turned their faces turned away in discuss.

It was Blaise who looked up and grinned before dropping his book onto the sofa and walking across the room to great her. Hermione smiled in greeting, however she had allowed concern and worry to overtake her now. She wasn't entirely sure why these emotions had made themselves present but they were definitely overwhelming her.

"Why if it isn't her grace!" Blaise exclaimed as a way of greeting, Hermione flashed a quick smile she wasn't in the mood to continue the charade with him.

"Hello Blaise, have you seen Malfoy today?" She asked distractedly as her eyes hurried around the common room as if expecting him to suddenly step forwards from the shadows. Blaise's face instantly frowned and he blinked in surprise.

"I thought he was with you, didn't you have Head's meeting today?" He asked and Hermione quickly shook her head.

"We did but he never showed up" She frowned; worry seeming to seep through into her very bones. Blaise ran a nervous hand through his hair and cursed out loud causing Hermione to jump. "What? What's the matter?" She asked staring straight into his eyes.

"This has happened before" He whispered.

"Before? What's happened before?" She prompted wanting him to speak faster. Blaise cast his eyes to floor drawing them away from Hermione and shuffling his feet. "Zabini!" She snapped angrily using his last name.

He shrugged dramatically and Hermione mentally counted to 5 in her head, Blaise was her friend she would not curse him, she would not!

"He just disappears, he hasn't done it in almost a year now though. Sometimes he's gone for days, sometimes its just a few hours. But it's almost like he drops off the planet" Blaise finally told her. Hermione stared at him for a very long moment.

"He just disappears?" She asked again. Blaise just nodded.

Hermione's eyes were glued to the Great Hall doors as she sat at the Gryffindor table on Monday morning. She hadn't seen Draco all day Sunday and she had yet to see him this morning. She had completely forgotten about the rest of the drama in her life, that was until her red haired friend dropped into the seat next to her.

"Hermione?" Ginny's voice was quite and tentative. Hermione's eyes slowly rounded to face the girl and she blinked once. "Have I done something wrong?" The girl asked and Hermione let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding.

"No Ginny, you haven't" She replied picking up a piece of toast and beginning to butter it.

"You haven't spoken to me in 3 days" Ginny added and Hermione inwardly cringed.

"I'm really sorry Ginny, I really am. I've just been so busy" She hurried hoping that would appease her friend. Ginny was quite for a long moment.

"What about what happened outside the Gryffindor common room the other night?" She finally asked.

"What about it?" Hermione asked acting innocent.

"Hermione, I'd finally been able to talk to Malfoy and you completely ruined it" Ginny announced her voice a little irritated, Hermione could tell she was trying to rein in her emotions so as not to shout.

"Look Ginny," Hermione put down her piece of toast and turned to face her friend "I didn't mean anything by it, but you were breaking the rules. I know I'm your friend Gin but that doesn't mean you get special treatment. I should have punished you for just being out past curfew, but I didn't" She replied and she could tell she'd hurt Ginny's feelings but in all honesty she didn't care. She knew that made her a terrible friend but there were just too many emotions swirling inside of her that she couldn't focus on her red haired friends needs right at that moment.

That was when Harry and Ron joined them and Hermione could have sworn Ginny had blushed, weird.

"Hermione" The voice belonged to Harry and Hermione looked up not saying anything.

"We're sorry, we really are" He hurried and Hermione sighed loudly, if somewhat dramatically.

"Look guys, I can't talk right now. How about we meet in the common room at the end of the day and talk it through?" She offered a smile and the boys nodded eagerly. "I'll see you later then" She announced and got to her feet heading for morning briefing.

Draco hadn't been at morning briefing, he hadn't been in potions, he hadn't been at lunch briefing and no one seemed worried, apart from Hermione.

It was this emotion that had travelled with her all day and it was this emotion that was still swirling inside of her when she walked into the Gryffindor common room that night and was faced with the eager eyes of Harry and Ron, fuck, she'd forgotten about this.

"Hermione!" Ron greeted eagerly and she plastered a smile onto her face.

"Hi guys" She greeted and sat down in the chair opposite them.

Harry was the first to speak his voice strained and sore as if he'd been speaking all day.

"Herms we are so sorry, I know it's an utterly shite excuse but we were just stressed out and you were the first person we were able to take it out on. It was so wrong but please forgive us Hermione, we love you." He hurried and Hermione let a small smile grace her features she turned her eyes to Ron.

"What Harry said," Ron mumbled looking at the ground and not making eye contact. Hermione knew how much he struggled with vocalizing his opinions and she knew this was as good as she was going to get.

"Apology accepted" She decided and both boys beamed at her before they launched towards and her and swept her up into a group hug.

**Remember to R and R guys! Hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it! Love VaM xx**


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